A longtime school board member and former KASB president is joining the staff of KASB.

Shannon Kimball will start Jan. 3, 2024, as a government relations specialist at KASB.

In that capacity, Kimball, who is an attorney, will help track legislation, testify on bills and communicate with legislators on behalf of KASB’s 286 district school board members.

Kimball is the immediate past president of the Lawrence USD 497 school board, which she has served on since 2011. She was recently elected to a two-year term on the board.

Kimball served on KASB’s board of directors from 2016 until January of this year and was president of KASB from 2019-2020.

Kimball grew up in western Kansas and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from the University of Kansas. She received her law degree at the University of Michigan Law School and has worked with public schools as an attorney in private practice and an education specialist.

Kimball has three children: a sixth grader, a 10th grader and one recent Lawrence public schools graduate.